What Goes on Tour(7)

"You do it. I've got to get ready." Adrian turned to Kate. "Be good tonight and listen to George and Libby."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Yes, Uncle Ade."

"George will be able to answer any questions you have," he said to Libby, and with a wave, walked off.

She felt a twinge of disappointment.

"Right then, ladies. This way."

For the next half an hour, George took them around backstage, answering  all of Libby's questions and explaining what was going on. Kate stopped  to chat with a couple of roadies, greeting them by name and introducing  Libby to them. Then the newly hired support act began and it was hard to  hear anything. George made Kate wear earmuffs and Libby wished she had  some. The band wasn't great.

Kate tugged on her arm and indicated that they should leave. Libby  followed her and George to a dressing-room with a Kent Downer sign on  the door. Kate knocked and it wasn't long before Adrian answered in his  full Kent Downer outfit.

The change was incredible. He stood taller, his chest puffed out and the  gesture he made for them to come in was large and theatrical. He caught  Libby staring and winked at her.

Libby gaped at him, refusing to step back though she wanted to distance  herself. The lovely and shy Adrian of this afternoon had been replaced  by this cocky, confident man. A man who reminded her of her ex. She  suppressed a shudder.

She couldn't quite believe Kent and Adrian were the same person, despite  the fact that she'd seen Kent the night before. Did he have some sort  of personality disorder? Which was the real man?

Libby entered the dressing-room with its mirror-lined walls and big,  comfortable brown couches. Kate dumped her backpack on the wooden coffee  table and pulled out a board game.

"What are you going to play tonight?" Adrian asked her.

Kate looked up. "Are you playing, George?"

"Sure, Shorty."

"Then we'll play Clue. Do you have time for a round, Kent?"

Libby was surprised as Kate referred to her uncle by his stage name. Adrian checked the time. "If it's a quick one."

Kate deftly set up the board game and Adrian waved Libby onto the couch next to her. He and George sat opposite them.

"What time do you go on, Adrian?" Libby asked.

He glanced up. "Call me Kent when I'm in costume. I don't want anyone to associate Adrian with Kent."

It made sense to separate the two  –  they were so different.

"In about an hour." He scanned through his cards and marked something off on his score sheet.

Kate rolled the dice and whooped as she moved her piece around the  board. "I suggest it was Colonel Mustard in the library with the knife."

Libby checked her cards, showed one to Kate and then rolled the dice.  She'd forgotten how much fun it was to play board games. Growing up, her  family had never bothered with ‘bonding activities for the mundane', as  her father put it, but her best friend Piper's house had always been  full of laughter and games.

She'd spent every free moment she could with Piper, and Piper's family  had welcomed her and made her part of their own family. Libby felt far  more comfortable with them than she did with her own family. They had  wanted her. Libby had been devastated when they'd moved back to Texas.                       
       
           



       

This game was the same: full of suggestions, jokes and laughter. Libby  relaxed and let the mood infect her. If she ever had children, this is  what she'd want it to be like. Finally Kate said, "Ah ha! I know who it  is. I accuse Miss Scarlet, in the kitchen with the lead pipe." She  pointed an accusing finger at Libby, who was using the Miss Scarlet  piece.

"Go on then, kiddo," Kent said handing her the envelope from the middle. "Check if you're right."

Kate snatched the envelope and cautiously peered at the contents, one  card, then the next and the final one. She threw the three cards down  onto the board. "Told you!"

"Good one, Kate," George said as he dropped his cards on the table. He  checked his watch. "It's almost game time. We'll play again after Kent  hits the stage."

Kate stood. "Kent needs quiet time before he starts," she explained to Libby. "I'll show you the best spot to see the stage."

Kent flashed Libby a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. He drummed his fingers on the table as she stood.

Nerves again.

She'd not detected any when they were playing the game, but the moment  they stopped, they were there. "Break a leg," Libby said, and then  paused. "Do they say that to singers?"

"You can, as long as it doesn't come true," George said and ushered them out of the room.

Kate held Libby's hand and moved toward the stage. The support band had  finished and roadies raced back and forth to set up for Kent's band.  Kate weaved in and out, dragging Libby with her. Libby checked to make  sure George was following. She didn't want to get in the way.

"Hold it there, Shorty," George called and Kate stopped so suddenly that Libby bumped into her.

George caught up and pointed to an alcove in the wings. "You and Libby  wait there until they finish setting up, otherwise you'll get trampled.  I've noticed something that needs my attention. You'll be all right here  for a minute?" His eyes were focused on the other side of the room.

"Sure," Kate said.

George didn't wait for Libby's response. He turned and walked toward one  of the roadies, calling out as he did. He might be a grump at times,  but it was obvious he cared for the young girl.

And why wouldn't he? Kate was a sweet girl. But why was she touring with  her uncle? Maybe Kate's parents were like Libby's own, happier when she  wasn't under foot. At least Kate had Adrian.

Around her the roadies moved in a sequenced dance, moving equipment,  avoiding each other and transforming the stage into a rock star's lair.  They were a team, obviously experienced and certain where each item  should go and what should be done. Only once did Libby see two men  almost crash into each other. They swore at each other good-naturedly  and continued on their way.

Libby itched to get her notebook out and write down what she was seeing.  It was such a different atmosphere. Though the lights backstage were  bright, every surface was black, making it seem dimmer than it was.  There was electricity in the air, the hum of expectation and tension.  The drone coming from the audience on the other side of the curtain was  deep and primal.

Every now and then a chant would start. "We want Kent. We want Kent." It  would carry for a moment and then lose momentum. A couple of girls  screamed as if they couldn't keep the excitement bottled up any longer.

Next to Libby Kate scuffed the ground with her feet, looking bored.

"Do you like watching your uncle perform?" Libby asked.

Kate shrugged. "It's weird 'cause it doesn't seem like him performing. He's much nicer than Kent."

Libby had to agree. "I wonder why he doesn't go out as himself." She didn't mean it as a question but Kate answered it anyway.

"Dad told Mama it was because he was too nervous to be himself. He  needed to pretend to be someone else." Kate looked up at her. "Do you  think that's weird?" Her brow was furrowed and her nose scrunched up.  She was obviously concerned.

Libby covered her surprise and considered her answer. "There are a lot  of people who get stage fright," she said. "They each deal with it in  their own way. Besides, isn't that exactly what actors do each time they  go on stage  –  pretend to be someone else?"

"But that's their job."

"Perhaps this is the only way your uncle can do his job. He's a very  good singer." She remembered his performance the night before. Very good  didn't begin to describe his gift.

Kate seemed satisfied with the answer. "Kind of like when a basketball  player suits up to play ball. Oh look. He's ready to start." She pointed  to Kent, striding toward the stage.                       
       
           



       

He was in cheetah mode now. The same intense focus Libby had witnessed  in the green room the night before. His gaze was on the stage and he  acknowledged no one as he walked by, not even Kate.

Libby checked to see how Kate reacted.

"He's in the zone," Kate said and grinned in satisfaction, not the least bit bothered.

It would seem this was the norm.

He stopped in the wings of the stage and nodded once at something George  said to him. One of the roadies handed Kent a microphone and George  signaled someone off stage.

The lights went out.

Libby gasped as the pitch darkness swept over her and Kate clutched her  hand. The audience roared in approval. Libby's heart pounded in her  throat. Shit. Kent was afraid of the dark.